Find Your Lupus Buddy

The Lupus Buddy Program aims to create, nurture and sustain an environment in which patients can share their experience and knowledge by paring relatively experienced patients with relatively new ones,the "lupus buddies."

Interested?

Complete this form, and a program coordinator will be in touch with you. You may also call us at (408) 954-8600 if you have any questions or would like to sign up by phone.

The Buddy Program strives to:

Identify, target and recruit patients who may benefit from a lupus buddy.

Survey potential participants for key

information in a confidential manner.

Organize interested patients into compatible

pairs.

Facilitate initial meetings and communication within each pair.

Provide follow-up and other support to program participants and allow for natural evolution or re-pairing of buddies.

Provide buddy pairs with resources and techniques to increase lupus awareness in their communities.

Keep the program and itsparticipants

up-to-date with the latest best practices and research.

You may be an ideal candidate for the Buddy Program if:

You're an experienced patient and feel that others can benefit from your experience.

You're just starting to learn about lupus and feel that you'd benefit from the help of someone who has experience going through the same things you are.

You would like to go to a lupus support group, but one isn't available in your community.

You feel more comfortable sharing your experience and feelings one-on-one rather than in a group.

You want to expand your support network to include someone who's been hand-picked to match your experience.

The Three C's of Being Great Lupus Buddies

Communication: Like all relationships professional and personal, clear communication and understanding is the first key to being great lupus buddies.

Confidentiality: The LFNC is committed to protecting the privacy of program participants. Any personal and medical information buddies choose to provide to the LFNC is confidential,and it is critical that each member in a pair strive to protect the other's confidentiality and privacy.

Compatibility: While we will use best practices and judgments to construct the initial pairs,it is important to understand that not every pair will be ideal. It's imperative that all participants understand that the need to re-pair is not a personal reflection on either buddy,and that every participant in this program has a great deal to offer.